…Where
Was I?

I am hungry to be interrupted /
For ever and ever amen /
O Person from Porlock come quickly /
And bring my thoughts to an end.

Stevie Smith

Three stanzas into writing his poem Kubla Kahn, Coleridge tells us, he was interrupted by the now infamous ‘Person from Porlock’, bringing him irrecoverably out of the zone. A century and a half later, the poet Stevie Smith hungers for the ‘Person from Porlock’ to come back quickly, and bring her thoughts to an end. Today, we are said to be living through a crisis of attention, constantly diverted by notifications, multiple tabs, sensationalist headlines, clickbait, 24/7 multitasking, and a spiralling number of distracted-driving fatalities.

Within the context of the ongoing ICI Focus ERRANS environ(s), ‘Where was I?’ will explore questions of zoning in and zoning out, attending to attention and its social, political, and aesthetic implicationsin everyday experience. What does it mean to be ‘in the zone’ and what happens when we ‘zone out’? What is the role of interruption in the creative process? What escapes are afforded by absorption, and who has been historically excluded from distraction-free zones?

Please join us in the ICI Library for a performance, drinks, and… where was I?

Delfina Cabrera
Nicolò Crisafi
Amelia Groom
Saori Kanemaki
Marlon Miguel
Alison Sperling

An ICI Event organized by Corinna Haas, Claudia Peppel, and Arnd Wedemeyer

The event, like all events at the ICI Berlin, is open to the public, free of charge. The audience is presumed to consent to a possible recording on the part of the ICI Berlin. If you would like to attend the event yet might require assistance, please contact Event Management.